why is it always eletric chainsaws????

I am looking to make an aray of tiki poles about 7foot tall for my art project. I have been looking round TC at the prefered tools as i had no clue. I was wondering why everyone uses eletric chainsaws??? cant i use a petrol one??? & what are peoples veiws on which chisels to use???
Any info would be apreciated!
Thanks!

I use gas bubba. I can supply model numbers/chains/carving bars if you want info.

-Gman

Gas is good! That is all I've used, noisy and smelly, but to me its music and perfume.

Any saw will work, carving bars help with small detail, but you can use whatever you have. If you haven't carved with a saw before be very careful. The bar can jump around a lot and can be very dangerous. Go slow and make deliberate controlled cuts.

Have fun and start posting. We'd like to see.

If you have any questions just ask or PM. There are several very talented chainsaw carvers here that will help.

JP

:D

-Gman

I use a gas saw (Echo C-345), and do recommend one since you're doing multiple large pieces. 7 ft, very nice!

GROG use high octane racing fuel in GROG's chainsaw.

I used a Makita electric to carve about 10 tikis throughout Europe( Berlin, London, and Barcelona) a couple of years ago. When I got back home I bought myself a Dolmar electric. As far as chisels, English steel of course. Robert Sorby's and Henry Taylors.

http://www.dolmarusa.com/site/managed/html/produkt/4091/ES-171

[ Edited by: Tiki Diablo 2007-04-10 00:06 ]

On 2007-04-09 22:32, GROG wrote:
GROG use high octane racing fuel in GROG's chainsaw.

Grog use this to shave head and back?

I use a wood carving attachment on an electric angle grinder. It works pretty good and you've got reasonable control over it. Not as efficient as a chainsaw for removing bulk material quickly, but much better for controlled carving.

On 2007-04-10 00:07, Tiki Diablo wrote:
Grog use this to shave head and back?

Yep.

Which carving bars are best to put on a stihl MS180 , is it best to change it over or can you use the standard bar???
Also what aray/shapes of chisils do you prefere to use???
Over here in england i have found it hard to get hold of any palm to carve, what other woods are good to start carving with?????
Thanks for all the info so far!
Sorry if these questions sound stupid to you, just i really am tiki mad & want to get into the carving, but im not too sure on it all yet!

Here is a bar that should fit that saw. Stihl is my brand of choice.

http://store.baileys-online.com/cgi-bin/baileys/1671?mv_session_id=SCyaQdy4&product_sku=12508

Call them and they will be able to answer your specfic questions on the saw/chain/sprocket/bar required combination.

However, the bar that came on the saw will work well. The carving bar will enable you to make tighter detail. The standard bar on your saw has a fairly small tip that will be able to carve some nice detail. Try it before you spend the money on a carving bar.

Any type of wood can make a tiki, but use the search feature here. There is a thread or two here that discusses different types of wood. Pine, Spruce, Ceader, Bass, Walnut, Oak are all great woods.

As far as Chisels, search for threads by Benzart and Basement Kahuna, both discuss these pretty well. You will learn a ton from both of them and they both have a lot of tiki eye candy on their threads.

Ed supplies all of my chainsaw equipment, nice guy and knows pretty much all you could need to know.
http://www.ed-robinson.co.uk/cannon_bars.html